Rumor Has It
by corikane
Summary: A New Year's party has Beca and Chloe become closer - but not as close as some believe.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I am not at all sure about what I am doing with these two. Writing is kinda slow and sticky, and while the idea is solid, I have a hard time with this. Feedback will be more than ever appreciated, tell me what you think and we may be able to finish this story at some point. I, at least, hope so. (Oh, and of course I own nothing - unfortunately.)**

* * *

"Come on, open up, Beca. I know you're in there!" There was banging on the door, Beca could hear it even with her headphones on. And she could hear the tones of Chloe's voice even though she couldn't make out what she was saying. Not that it mattered, Chloe had warned her that this would happen if Beca decided to spent New Year's at Barden - she would hunt her down, kidnap her and bring her to the wildest party the campus had to offer.

Beca hadn't taken Chloe seriously, she had returned after Christmas - not tellling Chloe that she was back - and had thought the redhead would have had forgotten her threat over her own Christmas. No such luck. Chloe was again hammering on the door:

"Beca Mitchell. Get your ass to the door and open or... oh, hi, Jolene..." The door opened and Beca turned to it, surprised. Her roommate came in, followed by a dressed-up redhead whose bright blue eyes were firing sparks at the DJ at her laptop. Chloe pointed at Beca's headphones and the brunette slowly took them off. Chloe smiled coming over to her friend, bowing low so as to speak into Beca's ear. The younger girl squinted as if expecting Chloe to scream at her. Instead she heard the sultry voice of the redhead whispering:

"This ginger needs to get her party on - and you are coming with, sugar pie, or I'll have Amy make your life miserable at rehearsals." Beca had a hard time concentrating on the actual words that were being said, the feel of hot breath, the sexiness of the voice, Chloe's sheer proximity made her swoon just a little. She closed her eyes for a moment before answering:

"Amy would never do that. She loves me, I give her solos." She reasoned. Chloe smiled silently and then put one finger under Beca's chin to guide the brunette to face her. There was little space between their eyes, their noses, their lips and Beca felt her breath catch.

"Don't make me torture you, Becs. You do not know the dark powers of this ginger - you don't want to know them." This time Beca completely failed to catch any of what had been said, she just stared into Chloe's shining blue eyes. The skin around them crinkled as she smiled. She gave Beca a small peck on the lips and then pulled her up from her chair.

"Get dressed, Becs, the others are waiting." With these words she pushed Beca toward her closet and gave her a small smack on the behind. "Make it something sexy, if you please," was the last command Beca got from Chloe who then sat down at her laptop and listened to her latest mix - one that was called C123 and meant that she had already done 122 mixes of the same type, inspired by Chloe.

"THIS IS GOOD!" Chloe called over the music that blared into her ears. "LOVE THIS SONG!" She bobbed her head at Beca who smiled but only until she noticed the look she got from this year's roommate. If she had thought it couldn't get any worse than Kimmy Jin last year, she had been in for a surprise when she returned to campus and got Jolene as her new roommate. She was not Asian-American, she was not openly hostile, she was mean behind the back. Beca had found out the hard way when people started avoiding her and she later found out that Jolene had told them that Beca rarely showered.

'They should have asked Chloe, she would have told them...' Beca smiled at the memory and went back to ignoring her roommate.

Beca pulled some clothes out of her closet and threw them onto the bed. She gave the redhead a sign that she would go to the bathroom to freshen up and put on some make-up and Chloe nodded her head and kept on listening to Beca's mixes.

After Beca returned she changed. She didn't thnk much of it, after all, Chloe had seen her naked within the first mnutes of their acquaintance. There was little need for privacy after that. Chloe approved of the tight black jeans but insisted on Beca changing her top three times before she gave her consent to a red tank top and matching shirt. Chloe liked that color on her friend, she also liked the display of cleavage it afforded - but she didn't tell Beca that.

They left for the party. Even though Chloe had left college earlier this year to get a job, she still enjoyed her trips to campus since she didn't live far away. She kept in touch with the Bellas and the social life on campus. But the most important thing for her had become her friendship with Beca, especially since Aubrey had left to continue her studies at Yale. They usually spent the weekend together, exploring the surrounding areas, going to concerts or the occasional movie (Beca still wasn't much into them but it was usually fun with Chloe, everything was more fun with Chloe).

"So, what's the plan for tonight?" Beca asked as she slipped her arm into Chloe's as they walked over the busy campus. Every fraternity and sorority seemed to have their own party going, and the people not belonging to either just celebrated wherever. Everybody seemed drunk or on their way there, every few minutes some guys would come over to them to try to get them to party with them or just to flirt with them, or hook up wth them or whatever. Chloe didn't stray from her way, though, she had a plan but she didn't seem willing to share it with Beca.

"You'll see," was what she said to her friend and lead her over the campus. Beca soon caught on where they were going, though: the pool. And it wasn't a big surprise that her fellow Bellas waited there together with the Trebles, the Harmonics and even the High Notes. It reminded her of aca-initiation night and a laugh bubbled over when she thought of her own very memorable initiation.

"Why are you laughing, Becs?"

"I just thought... of a very drunk Chloe Beale at my aca-initiation... you said we were going to be fast friends..."

"And I was right - as always." They both laughed. As they neared the festivities, their friends started whooping and yelling - it had nothing to do with the wonderful music they usually made. A certain blonde was especially overjoyed to see them, she was very thin, very tall, and very loud at this moment.

"Beca!Chloe!" It sounded more like Bechloe when she called their names and Beca snorted a laugh. They had only just climbed down into the pool when Aubrey threw her arms around them.

"Chloe! Chloe! Chloe!" She yelled at them and the two smaller women laughed about the usually controlled ex-Bella.

"I'm happy to see you, too, 'Brey!" Chloe assured her friend. Others greeted them, all of them knew Beca - she was the Queen Bee of a cappella music at Barden - and most knew Chloe as well, the newbies being the exception. Soon enough they were dancing, and drinking and something akin to singing.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I wanted to thank you guys for the encouragement, I really appreciate it. I'm still not sure where this is going but it's nice to know that someone likes it.**

* * *

"Hey," Chloe sat down next to Beca at the edge of the pool. Beca had escaped here from the wild party that was going on at her feet, she still wasn't much of a people-person although she made more of an effort these days.

Both girls were sufficiently inebriated by now, and both of them held red cups in their hands filled with concoctions too mixed to even try to guess at the contents.

"Hey, red."

"Red? That is so original, Becs," Chloe said good-naturedly.

"Almost as original as Becs, Chlo." They smiled at each other before looking back at the aca-party going on at their feet.

"You are aware that Jesse has been watching you all night, right?" They giggled at the rhyming ending of Chloe's question. Beca nodded.

Jesse and she only had one summer as a couple in which they mainly found out that they were a horrible couple. Jesse liked doing things, he was enthusiastic and liked to be among people. Beca liked doing different things, things one could do alone or with one other person max. She loathed most people and was much happier sitting playing music than listening to it at some party or worse at the movies. But that was Jesse's passion, his aim in life. They just didn't fit. Beca never told Jesse that her feelings for him, the ones she thought she had had were misplaced. She had mistaken affection for love - the same way she had mistaken her feelings for Chloe with mere friendship.

Beca smiled sadly.

"He's still into you, sweetie," Chloe observed.

"He shouldn't be, especially since he's with that... what's her name again?"

"Louise? No, wait, Larry..." Chloe giggled. "No, Leanne. Is that right?" Chloe was quite drunk and Beca loved her friend in this mood. She got all flirty and giggly and mainly adorable. She also got a little more touchy than she already was when sober. She now slipped her hand in Beca's and entwined their fingers.

"I don't even know," Beca said and wondered if she just didn't care. Jesse was a nice guy but since she had broken up with him he had ceased to even be her friend and would usually only look at her across campus - with hurt puppy eyes. She really didn't need that, especially since her own feelings were so preoccupied with someone else. The brunette sighed quietly.

"You're not still into him, are you?" Chloe asked her and she shook her head.

"No, Chlo," they again giggled because of the unintentional rhyming. Beca lay her head on Chloe's shoulder and they watched their assembled friends and fellow acas.

"I wouldn't have thought 'Brey would come all the way down here from Yale," Beca said after a while.

"She tries to spend less time with her family, they give her anxiety," Chloe answered and her friend nodded. She could understand that. She never would have guessed at the kind of family life Aubrey Posen had given her fellow Bella's a glimpse of when they finally started talking to each other. It wasn't abusive in the traditional sense but her father seemed a very imposing influence, never content with second best, rarely proud of any of his childrens' accomplishments - Beca thought he was a dick for the way he treated Aubrey and her brothers but she didn't say so because he was a general and a patriot and she knew Aubrey wouldn't appreciate it.

"Her father would give anyone anxiety," Beca said. Chloe didn't respond.

"I'm glad she's here. I missed her," the redhead finally said.

"Yeah, me too." Chloe looked at Beca surprised and they started giggling.

"If you tell her, I make you pay," Beca informed her friend.

"And pray tell, what would you do to me?"

"I would make you listen to..." Beca seemed to think for a moment, "... to a cd 'Brey gave me after I joined the Bellas... some of her favorite songs. It's horrible." They giggled again.

"'Brey doesn't have that bad a taste for music," Chloe defended the tall blonde.

"That's a joke, right?" They couldn't stop smiling, and laughing, and giggling. Beca knew she was drunk but it wasn't just that, it was also Chloe holding her hand and the smile on her lips, her bedazzling blue eyes. Everything about Chloe made her feel good and light-headed. She couldn't stop looking at her, couldn't stop being with her. She had never felt this way before, not with Jesse, not with any other guy she might have had a crush on in the past. Chloe was different, not because she was a girl - woman - but because she was... Chloe.

"You're staring, Becs," she now said and giggled again. Beca blushed lightly and quickly looked away from her friend. "It's okay, though, I like it," she heard Chloe whisper into her ear. Beca smiled but didn't look back at the redhead right away, she didn't want to seem easy.

* * *

Amy came over to Aubrey.

"May I say, I'm so glad you're here?" The Tazmanian said and grinned. "And now I'ma gonna hug you," she warned as she slipped her arms around Aubrey's waiste.

"Not too tight, though," 'Brey said as she put her own arms around Amy's round shoulders. She had missed the open-hearted, honest girl with the strange accent. They had exchanged emails a couple of times because Aubrey liked to be kept in the loop and wouldn't trust Beca to keep her informed. But it wasn't as good as seeing her friends every day - or torturing them with cardio.

"No worries, I wouldn't want to risk getting showered in you dinner," Amy said as she let go of Aubrey again. She smiled and the tall blonde couldn't but answer in kind. Fat Amy was in her own way irresistable.

"That would be unfortunate, I like that new jacket," it was purple leather.

"Thanks, it's actually not mine, I found it over there and thought it would look good on me, so, I put it on," Amy smiled, and Aubrey nodded. It shouldn't have surprised her. She looked around her, watched some of her friends. Her eyes fell on Cynthia-Rose and Stacie who were dancing together.

"Don't tell me those two are actually together?" She pointed at them and Amy looked over.

"Nah, not gonna happen for Stacie. She likes dick, but apart from that they're pretty close." Amy's eyes wandered from the dancers at one end of the pool to the two girls who sat on the edge above everybody. "Though there might be some others who're crossing over, if you get my drift." Amy wiggled her eye-brows and then pointedly looked at Beca and Chloe. Aubrey followed Amy's look, her eyes becoming unbelievingly big.

"You're not saying that... are they together?" She asked but was pretty sure that they weren't. Chloe would have told her if something THIS significant had happened.

"Not yet," Amy answered truthfully and meaningfully.

"I don't think..." but the words that would have ended this discussion never left Aubrey's mouth as she watched Chloe and Beca interact, the way they smiled at each other, the way they held hands and Beca blushing as Chloe seemingly flirted with her. It was all there. "They're..."

"Totes in lesbians with each other," Amy finished the sentence. 'Brey looked at her then back at Chloe and Beca.

"Do the others know?" She asked. She didn't want any rumors spreading about her best friend, not if Chloe wasn't even consciously aware of what was going on between herself and Beca, which Aubrey would have bet anything was the case.

Amy shrugged her shoulders.

"Nobody knows for sure, I don't think even the lovebirds know for sure. But it's getting kinda obvious," she said and Aubrey nodded slowly.

"Would you keep an eye on things for me here, Amy? I don't want Cynthia-Rose starting to bet on when they're going to do the deed, or something like it."

"You're not gonna break them up, are you?" Amy seemed genuinely concerned. She looked over at Chloe and Beca, not wanting to be disloyal to them but also not able to outright ignore a command from her former Bellas-captain.

"Of course not, Amy. I just don't want... anybody or anything to hurt Chloe," the tall blonde confessed. She looked at Amy earnestly and the other woman nodded.

"Not while I'm around, 'Brey," Amy said. The taller woman smiled.

* * *

It was nearing midnight and they knew it. They had spent the better part of an hour sitting by themselves, talking, quietly singing with some of the songs that blasted from the loudspeakers near the pool. Luke was this night's DJ and his smooth British lilt had already announced three of Beca's mixes that night. The brunette smiled as another of her songs came on - it was her _Titanium_ mix.

"Yeah. Whooo-hooo!" Chloe wooped next to her, Beca laughed. "That's my lady jam!" Chloe joined in the laughter, throwing both her arms around her smaller friend and rocking her.

"This last year was the best, Beca," she held her tight and kissed her hair.

"Are you getting sentimental on me, Beale?" Beca sounded aloof, her usual sarcastic self but there was an undertone that Chloe had learned to recognize. The DJ was moved but didn't want to show it.

"Maybe," she answered.

"It was a good year," Beca confirmed and looked up at a grinning Chloe. The song ended, their song ended.

"It's almost midnight, everyone. Time for the countdown. We're down to 14 - 12 - and ten, nine, eight..." Everybody joined in and the numbers were called loudly throughout the pool. Chloe was still holding Beca, her heartbeat so much faster than the numbers vibrating through her, hammering insistently against her ribcage. She was holding Beca, it was almost midnight, almost time for a kiss. And Beca was as aware of everything as Chloe was, her heart beating as violently as her friend's, her hands holding onto Chloe's surrounding arms.

"... four, three, two, one! - HAPPY NEW YEAR!" The noise was deafening but in all the madness, Beca turned to Chloe and kissed her smack on the lips.

It wasn't romantic, not sexy or earth-shattering. It was a new year's kiss, nothing more. And yet it felt wonderful, warm and sweet. They smiled at each other as the first chords of _Auld Long Syne_ rang through the pool. Beca lay her head back on Chloe's shoulder and they sat like that until the New Year's song ended. Then they got up and went back to the dorms.


	3. Chapter 3

They strolled around campus in silence, their hands still entwined. Beca's mind was on the kiss she had laid on Chloe and the smile she had received for it. The redhead hadn't shied away from it and Beca would have been surprised if she had. After all, it was just a New Year's kiss, they were sure to still be around each other for another year and that was all Beca wanted - to have Chloe around. She had never been as close to anyone as she was with Chloe and she cherished the friendship. Anything else that she might want them to be was locked in a dark vault in her heart and she was reluctant to open it. As long as there was nobody else, not in her life, not in Chloe's life, there was really no need to open it. It was only sometimes, when Chloe would smile at her, or when she spent the weekend at Chloe's and they would share the queen size bed, or when they were listening to music, or dancing, or singing together, that Beca yearned for more.

"How long is Aubrey going to stay?" Beca heard herself asking after a while.

"A couple of days," Chloe answered but she seemed preoccupied with thoughts of her own.

"Isn't she staying with you?" Beca asked surprised, even more so when the redhead shook her head.

"She's staying with Amy," Chloe smiled at the smaller woman whose eyes went round at this piece of information.

"Seriously?" Chloe laughed.

"Yeah. I don't know, they're... friends, as unlikely as it might seem. And Amy offered and 'Brey accepted."

"That's good, maybe Amy can losen Aubrey up a little. She sure needs it," Beca mused.

"She's not all that bad and you know it," Chloe chastised and Beca smiled up at her.

"I know... just...," Beca laughed and Chloe joined her.

"You just like teasing each other. You know 'Brey does that with you, too, always complaining of how insubordinate you are, not a team player... I swear, if I didn't know better I'd think you had a thing for each other." That made them both laugh hard before Beca said:

"And pray tell, how do you know better? Maybe I have a thing for Aubrey." Chloe stopped abruptly and pulled Beca to a stop also.

"Seriously?" She asked but there was a twinkle in her eyes that told Beca she didn't really believe it. Chloe pulled Beca close by their joined hands.

"Well, she's mighty pretty, and... well, she can be nice if she puts her mind to it, that is... and..." Chloe laughed at Beca's reluctance to say nice things about their friend.

"You think she's pretty, huh?"

"She's certainly pleasing to the eyes," Beca confirmed.

"That she is," Chloe readily agreed. Their eyes locked and held.

"She's also a decent singer," Beca said, her eyes dropping for a moment to Chloe's mouth then looking up into her eyes again. She wasn't conscious anymore of what she was saying.

"And tall, she's very tall," Chloe said.

"Which is good."

"Very good," Chloe confirmed and they nodded, looking at each other, their breaths mingling in the chill December air.

"I'm going to kiss you now," Beca whispered a moment before their lips met.

It wasn't a New Year's kiss anymore, it was warmth spreading from their lips throughout their bodies, it was tasting and nipping and needing to be close. Their tongues started dancing after a while, their mouths locking tightly, their bodies colliding. For minutes they merged. As they came up for air, Beca swooned. Chloe put her arms around the smaller woman's shoulder to keep her from falling.

"That was..." She breathed.

"Yeah, it was..." They giggled.

"What does it mean?" Chloe breathed into Beca's ear and the younger woman felt another bout of dizziness. She lay her head into the crook of Chloe's neck.

"It means that I like you," she whispered.

"I like you, too," Chloe confessed.

Beca felt her heart do a double-take. Did she really? Did Chloe like her the way she liked Chloe? Or was it just their drunken selves seeking closeness? Was it real? Did it matter what it was? Would they even remember any of this in the morning?

Beca was sure she would. But she promised herself not to hold Chloe to anything she said tonight. They were drunk, they were both single, maybe they just needed to feel close to somebody. Or maybe it was more and they really did like each other. Whatever it was - tonight it was them kissing and holding each other. And it felt good.

Beca smiled. She looked up at Chloe and saw the same smile mirrored there.

Chloe pressed her lips against Beca's once more, it wasn't much more than a peck and they looked at each other while it lasted. It was so sweet and so intimate that Beca felt a lump in her throat and tears springing to her eyes. She broke eye contact and stepped away from her friend. She pushed her hands into the pockets of her jeans.

Chloe smiled at Beca's embarrassment. She knew that Beca was shy, that she was also very private and had a hard time opening up. But she had opened up to her tonight. It was plain to see that she had feelings for Chloe and it made the redhead happier than even she could express. Because she had feelings, too, a lot of them and all for Beca. She reached her hand out and carressed Beca's cheek. Then she leaned in and whispered into her ear:

"I will still like you tomorrow. We're going to have to talk about this... and kiss some more." When Beca looked up at her again, Chloe was biting her lip but her eyes sparkled.

Beca nodded and took Chloe's hand to continue their walk. There were a lot of people around, but no familiar faces as they neared Beca's dorm. They stood infront of it for a while, Beca looking up to the room she shared with Jolene. There was no light on.

"Either Jolene went out or she's actually already asleep," she said.

"Do you think she went out?" Beca shook her head.

"She's not exactly a social butterfly, is she?" Chloe asked and Beca shook her head again.

"She's even worse than I am. I don't think she has any friends, though she usually finds enough people to tell lies to when she has one to tell."

"Is she really that bad?" Beca shrugged.

"She's strange, and I don't mean strange nerdy or endearing - like some of our friends, and me." Beca grinned sheepishly.

"That you certainly are," Chloe smiled. She pulled Beca into the dark doorway of the dorm and placed another kiss on her lips. They spent some time nipping.

"Do you wanna come up?" Beca asked after a while. She didn't want to say good night, she didn't want for Chloe to go home, overthink what had happened between them and then pull away. She wanted her near to reassure her, to hold her, to kiss some more.

But Chloe shook her head.

"Stacie said she'd wait and we could take a cap together," the tall dark-haired Bella lived in the same apartment building as Chloe. Beca nodded.

"Call me?"

"Most definately," Chloe answered. She gave Beca another kiss, her lips lingering. "Tomorrow," she promised before she turned and left. Beca watched her go, then turn and wave. Beca waved back. She waited until Chloe turned a corner and was gone before she made her way into her dorm and her room with her strange roommate.

* * *

Beca tried to be as quiet as possible when she entered her room but she had an inkling that her roommate was still awake. She put on her pyjamas and decided not to bother about her make-up, luckily she never wore much. She just slipped under her covers when she heard the low noise of her phone vibrating in her jacket. She got back up and quietly took her phone from its resting place, not in the least surprised when she saw her best friend's name on the display. Beca smiled as she read the message:

_In case I haven't mentioned it yet: you're an aca-mazing kisser_

Beca went back to bed typing:

_Tell me again tomorrow plz_

She waited breathlessly for the answer, holding her phone to her chest. It wasn't the vibating that made her heart skip a beat a moment later, it was the accompanying message:

_Tomorrow and every day following if you want_

A noise escaped Beca's throat; it sounded like part whimper, part meow to her ears.

_I want_, she typed and stared at the message for a short while. Then she hit 'send.'

A dramatic sigh came from the bed across from her and she looked over to Jolene who rumbled as much with her sheets as a simple turn from one side to the other could warrant. Beca rolled her eyes. She put her phone on the shelf next to her bed in case Chloe did text again though she didn't expect her to. The DJ closed her eyes, the last part of the night replaying behind her lids.


	4. Chapter 4

Beca woke to the buzzing of her phone next to her. She had woken in the early morning hours and reread the messages she had almost believed she had just dreamed. But they hadn't been part of a dream, Chloe had actually written that she was a good kisser - an aca-mazing kisser - which meant they actually had kissed. They had kissed. Her heart had thudded wildly in her chest and it had taken over an hour for her to fall asleep again.

Meanwhile, morning had turned into midday and her phone was still lying next to her. Her eyes opened reluctantly to its buzzing, it was a text, not a call. As the thought of it being from Chloe hit her she grabbed the phone hastily and opened the message - it was indeed from Chloe:

_If I remember last night correctly, you're an aca-mazing kisser._

Beca had to laugh, not just about the message but because a bubble of happy feelings spread through her at the knowledge that Chloe remembered last night, and was alright with what had happened. Beca turned on her back, ignoring her roommate who was sitting at her desk reading in some textbook or other.

_If I remember correctly, you're pretty aca-awesome yourself. But I would need a refresher to be absolutely sure about it._

Her eyes didn't stray from her phone as she waited for the answer to her text, a happy grin never leaving her lips.

_Sounds tempting. You free tonight?_

Beca wanted to give a positive answer but then remembered that Amy had invited her over for some Bella-business this evening. She didn't know what was going on, she had been a little too drunk to even think about Amy - her co-captain - calling for an official Bellas meeting.

_I'm at Amy's tonight. Something to do with the Bellas._

Her grin vanished, she contemplated if she could just ask Amy to postpone the meeting or if they could meet earlier so she could drive over to Chloe's afterwards. She so wanted to see the redhead. It was a physical need, it was also an emotional one. Her heart sank as she thought about all the hours she would have to spent apart from Chloe in the future and it actually made her physically sad.

_Well, I guess I'll see you there then, _came Chloe's response and Beca looked at the message in surprise.

"What?" She exclaimed loudly and got an unnerved sigh from her roommate who obviously took offense at Beca talking to herself. The DJ glared at the back of Jolene's head. Did she really have to comment in that way to everything Beca did? Couldn't she just ignore her like Beca ignored her?

The brunette turned back to her phone and her feelings.

_You're going to be at Amy's?_, she typed eagerly.

_Yeah, sure. She invited me over - I'm not sure she remembered that I'm no Bella anymore, she was pretty drunk last night. _Beca nodded, they had all been pretty drunk last night. There was another buzz from her phone before she could answer:

_I thought maybe we could talk afterwards - or before... I think we really should. And then, of course, there's that kissing business to be taken care of. ;)_

Beca grinned again. Yeah, that kissing business was very important to her also. Only... she had to be at the station at 11 pm for her shift. Damn! Beca had to chuckle at herself. There had been a time - yesterday - when she had been eager to get any shift at the small campus radio station, and suddenly it was a drag. It seemed she had found something better to occupy her every waking hour. It was so ridiculous, they had kissed a couple of times, they weren't even a couple or anything. They were... well, as for now they were friends who had kissed. But she couldn't think of anything else just now because she could still feel Chloe's lips on hers, could feel her breath on her face, her hands carressing her cheek, her body pressed against hers. It all felt warm and fuzzy and romantic and ugh. She wasn't this sentimental. But she didn't know how not to feel all these things. They overwhelmed her and she was powerless. She HAD to see Chloe again - soon. And she HAD to kiss her again - so much!

Beca gave a frustrated groan and before Jolene could respond with another of her I-have-the-most-idiotic-roommate-in-the-whole-world-sighs, Beca got out of bed, grabbed her shower kit and a towel and left the room.

* * *

Beca felt the need to clear her head. So, after a rather long hot shower and a couple more messages she exchanged with Chloe (they had agreed that they would meet at Amy's and Chloe would later drive Beca over to the station), she set out over the chill January campus. It all looked rather messy, even though fireworks had been forbidden on campus there were plenty of remnants of them to say that the rule had been for the most part ignored. Bottles lay around as well, most of them from alcoholic beverages, some not even empty.

Beca kicked at an empty fruit punch bottle that went skidding over the dirty concrete and onto the groomed lawn. Beca sighed but the smile on her face belied any attempt at theatricality. She was quite content this morning and no amount of dark thoughts could erase the smugness from her lips.

She had kissed Chloe.

Chloe had kissed her.

They had both enjoyed it.

And there would be more kissing and more enjoying in the future.

Beca giggled. It was all too much. She hadn't even been sure about... anything she had felt for Chloe before. Sure, there had been those tale-tell moments, when Chloe's smile had made her feel giddy, when Chloe's touch had nearly burned her, when her singing voice had made her heart soar. But those things had almost felt out of context, like: I like this girl, she is my friend, she makes me feel good - why am I feeling so much more when I'm with her than when I'm with my boyfriend? It had been a thought that had occured in her head even when she was with Jesse. The answer seemed clear now: she liked Chloe. She liked her THAT WAY. It wasn't exactly a shocker, though some people would stop and stare and scratch their heads at the mere idea in the future. Her dad, for example. But it wasn't a revelation to her, Beca has had crushes on girls as long as she could remember, she had just never acted on them before.

She had rarely acted on her boy-crushes either. Just Jesse. That was a desaster. It wasn't his fault, he was too much like her dad. A little controlling, a little too conventional, with too many ideas how life should be. But that wasn't life for Beca. Expect the unexpected - and duck it before it consumes you. But now something had consumed her - whole, completely, irreversible.

Beca stopped and looked around campus. It was all good, as far as she was concerned. They would figure it out.

Once again, her smile got wider while she thought of Chloe, her eyes, her smile, the wild mane of red hair that always smelled like honey when you expected peppers. Beca bit her lip to keep from grinning too much but it wouldn't do. Today was perfect.

She was so consumed by her thoughts that she only realized the guy in the red sweater when he was almost standing infront of her. She didn't know him, or at least he didn't look familiar to her.

"Hey, are you Beca?" He asked and grinned at her.

"Ah, yeah. Do I know you?"

"From the Bellas?" He asked again and she nodded. "You're hot," he said and blushed a little before he resumed his way.

"Uh," Beca turned and looked after the guy who turned once more and winked at her. She shook her head at him and he gave a laugh.

"Kids and alcohol," she mumbled.

She hadn't consciously thought about where she would be going but found that she was hungry. She made her way to an on-campus coffee shop where she usually bought her morning coffee - she still considered it morning coffee even if it was noon. She went inside, gave her usual order of coffee and an almond croissant and left minutes later sipping her brew.

"Hmmmm," she made as she made her way back to her dorm. It was already afternoon and she would have to get back soon if she didn't want to be late for Amy's... whatever her friend had planned for this evening. She had a couple of new mixes for the Bellas to listen to and she thought maybe tonight was as good a time as any. She would just bring them over. She also had to get her things for her night shift. She was mentally going through the things she needed to pack when somebody across the lawn waved at her. She looked behind her. No, there was nobody else there the tall guy could mean. Beca looked suspiciously at the young man who came over. It wasn't the one who had talked to her earlier but he didn't look any more familiar than that other guy.

"Hey," he said pleasantly.

"Hi," Beca offered.

"You're with that singing group, aren't you? The Belles?"

"Bellas," Beca corrected.

"Right," he said and grinned. He waggled his eyebrows at her. "If you're ever in the mood for a threesome, give me a call." He said.

"Three... what?" Beca stared at him.

"You know," he smiled confidently. "I'm Brad, by the way, like Pitt," he couldn't help adding and she looked at him bewildered.

"What?" She repeated but he only grinned and walked on, waving at her again. "What is wrong with people?" She wondered aloud. It wasn't like guys didn't sometimes try and flirt with her, they sometimes did. She never encouraged it, not even with Jesse who she had once thought was an okay-guy. But this was ridiculous. It was as if some guys on campus had just woken this morning - or more likely noon - with the New Year's resolution to hit on anything with tits. And she had to suffer the consequences. It was weird to say the least.

Beca shook her head and resumed her way back to her dorm, trying to ignore that one guy who whistled at her, and the two girls who gave her strange looks and then started whispering to each other. Had the world gone mad over night?


	5. Chapter 5

Beca was the last one to arrive at Amy's due to three guys who had stopped her on campus - one put a flyer into her hand that read: 'Let Jesus save you', one had repeated the offer of a threesome, and she didn't even want to think about what the last guy had suggested. There seemed to have been a decided shift in appropriateness that happened around midnight between 2012 and 2013 - if she could just figure out what it had been. The thought that some of these people had seen her kiss Chloe had occured to her - but there really hadn't been that many people around and nobody had seemed to pay them any attention. Not that she had paid much attention to her surroundings... Beca grinned. No, her attention had been firmly on the ex-Bella in her arms.

When she entered Amy's apartment - her parents were filthy rich and provided her way-ward daughter with everything she needed - she was greeted by her friends. Some of them already seemed half-way back to being drunk, most of them had drinks in their hands. So, maybe this wasn't exactly an official Bellas meeting. Chloe and Aubrey's attendance seemed to confirm that. Chloe smiled at her across the room as she entered, she was standing with 'Brey, talking in low tones. Beca looked around her, smiling until she met Stacie's eyes. The tall, admittedly sensual brunette lifted an eyebrow at her. Beca looked back at her questioningly but Stacie didn't say anything and finally turned toward Cynthia Rose.

"Hey, Beca, there you are. Here try this, it's toxic," Amy pushed a drink at her. Beca smirked and took a small sip from the red cup, caughing when the beverage hit her taste buds.

"Toxic is right," she confirmed when she could speak again.

"Alright, Bellas. Since everybody's here now..." Amy called the women's attention. "This is kind of an official meeting called by me, co-captain of the Bellas. First order of business - we need to get rid of these ugly scarfs. All in favor say 'oi.'" Nobody said anything, everybody looked at Aubrey to see how she would take Amy's words. 'Brey just smiled then said:

"Oi." Everybody laughed and agreed with an "oi" of their own.

"Right, I think I have a good idea for a replacement of the scarfs - leather bands like Beca wears. All in favor say 'oi,'" but nobody said "oi" once again. Nobody was looking at Aubrey this time, everybody looked at Beca. The Bellas captain raised an eyebrow at Amy.

"Or maybe not," Amy mumbled.

"Look, Amy, it's not like they're not cool, or anything," Chloe said. She looked at Beca, her eyes sparkling, she for one thought they were sexy - on Beca. "It's just they're like Beca's... her signature style, if you will. We... you need something that transcends to all Bellas, like the red blazers the Trebles wear." Amy nodded thoughtfully at Chloe's words while the redhead caught Beca's look. She didn't need to search for it, Beca's eyes had been on her all along. Their look was deep and lingering. Chloe's smile was so bright, Beca wondered that the others didn't catch on, didn't see the radiant happiness that floated from their friend. Her own smile was a perfect match and she finally had to put a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. It wasn't funny or anything, she was just so happy. That ridiculously happy bubble inside her was expanding again, telling her to get close to Chloe, to touch her, to kiss her. It was hard to remain standing where she was, it was hard to not float under the ceiling - and it was the hardest not to think these neurotically sappy thoughts.

"Okay, I will think about this some more - obviously," Amy said after a while. "Next order of business, I hereby petition for Aubrey Posen and Chloe Beale to become honorary Bellas. They worked their skinny butts off to make us who we are now - the aca-awesomest aca-group in all the world - and I think they deserve it." The room went very quiet at this.

"Awwww, Amy," Chloe finally uttered and went over to the blonde. She hugged her. "That is so sweet of you."

She looked back at Aubrey. Her friend just stood glued to the spot, until she finally lifted her hand to her eyes and brushed a tear away. She went up to Amy and hugged her so tightly Chloe took a step back. You never knew with 'Brey's sensitive stomach.

"You're not gonna chuck on me out of sentimentality, are you?" Amy whispered hesitantly but returned the hug.

"Don't worry, I haven't eaten since breakfast," 'Brey assured her. It was really sweet, the way these two were becoming so tight. They were so different but Aubrey had respected Amy from that first moment she said: 'I'm Fat Amy.' And Amy saw behind the walls of most people, saw how vulnerable the tall blonde was behind her controlling nature. They were meant to be friends from their first meeting, they just didn't know it then. They did know now.

Beca smiled at Chloe again, their eyes locking naturally onto each other.

"All in favor of this petition, say 'oi,'" Beca said and everybody echoed the earlier 'oi' with even more enthusiasm.

"Well, that was all I had on my plate today," Amy said. "So, let's get drunk." Some of the others whooped and someone was already turning the low music up when Stacie whistled shrilly into the ruckus.

"I'm sorry," she said. "But I think there's one more thing we need to talk about." Everybody calmed down again, and Cynthia Rose turned the music back low. Everybody was looking at Stacie, wondering if she was going to reveal something as not-shocking as her confession that she had a lot of sex. But Stacie was looking at Beca and then at Chloe. "There's a purple elephant in the room and I think we should talk about it." Everybody went very quiet, nobody seemed to know what Stacie meant until Amy said:

"Alright, I am sorry. So, I took the jacket. It wasn't like anyone was claiming it as their own. I was wearing it all night and nobody said it was theirs," she pulled the purple leather jacket out of her closet and everybody stared at her.

"That's not what I was talking about, Amy," Stacie sighed.

"Oh, I thought because you said purple elephant... I wasn't aware there was another one in the room," Amy apologized.

"I wasn't talking about you, though I think you should bring the jacket to lost and found," the tall brunette said and Amy nodded eagerly, at the same time pushing the jacket back into her closet.

"I was talking about Beca and Chloe," Stacie was facing the two friends. "So, are you guys fucking?"

* * *

You could hear a needle drop in the silence that followed. Everybody was staring at Beca and Chloe except for Aubrey and Amy who silently made eye-contact with each other, wondering if any of the other had told Stacie about their suspicions.

"What?!" Beca finally bellowed, and Chloe wasn't far behind:

"I can't believe you just said that," it was a rare occasion when the usually exuberant redhead got upset and it now struck everybody that neither had ever seen Chloe like this. "Why would you say something like that?" She asked, her eyes conveying the hurt she felt.

"It's just... this is why," Stacie defended herself and took out her phone. She opened her browser to a social network site and showed Chloe what she had read on the way over to Amy's. Chloe read the posts, her eyes getting wide. She looked up to find Beca's questioning look and gave her Stacie's phone. Everyone huddled around the brunette to read over her shoulder but not everyone was able to. Beca read and then squinted her eyes.

"What the... holy fuck!" She cursed. "I'm gonna kill her!" She shoved Stacie's phone back at her, wanting to leave, wanting to strangle the girl who had written... lies, again, lies!

"Beca?" It was Chloe's sweet voice briging her back to the moment, her eyes not the blazing stars from earlier but hurt and... scared. "Who did that?" She asked.

"Barden Campus Queen," Amy supplied not very helpfully as she read the messages that pseudonym had spread throughout, well, the world mainly.

"My bet would be Jolene," Beca said.

"Your roommate?"

"Your roommate writes 'A Bella gone Lesbo: Beca Mitchell is screwing ex-Bella Chloe Beale - when she's not obsessively sexting her at all hours of the day'? That chick needs to get bitch-slapped, and I mean, bitch-slapped!" Amy ranted.

"Were you really... ehm... touching yourself while you texted?" Stacie asked.

"She wrote that, too?" Beca screeched and once again grabbed Stacie's phone.

"Yep," was all Stacie said, giving up her phone once more.

"Damn, that... I was not, okay. I was not," she said to the room in general but to Chloe especially. She didn't want the redhead to think she was completely out of it. Not that masturbating wasn't normal and healthy and all kinds of other great things but she wouldn't do it infront of her roommate, and not to a series of sweet but not even intimate texts. She did have some self-restraint.

"I believe you," Chloe said and smiled a very small smile. It broke Beca's heart that the radience was gone, that someone had the power to steal Chloe's unreserved, including smile. She didn't deserve any of this. She was the best person, the sweetest, brightest - damn, she was perfect. And she now came over to Beca to comfort her when all Beca wanted to do was make Chloe feel better. They hugged.

"I'm so sorry," the smaller girl whispered.

"Not your fault," Chloe answered. She leaned back and looked lovingly into Beca's eyes. She carressed her cheek and then kissed her, deliberately ignoring the stares and gasps from their friends. When the kiss ended she turned to the other Bellas:

"It's all we did so far, kiss. And it's wonderful and beautiful," she assured Beca who blushed slightly but smiled none the less.

"It is," she confirmed and took Chloe's hand. She threw a challenging look around the room at anybody who wanted to diminish what they had. But these were her friends and she should have known better than to think they wouldn't be okay with her being happy with Chloe.

"I think that's great," Cynthia Rose said. "Welcome to the family." She hugged Beca and then Chloe. Everybody seemed to agree, things got loud again, people started chatting and drinking and dancing as the music was turned up. It turned into a party - a party Beca and Chloe left early because of the DJ's shift at the radio.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I want to thank everyone for the kind encouragements you've given me. I do feel that I have a better grip on the characters and have already some new ideas that I might write. Which constitutes a warning: I will not write on this indefinitely - I actually already have my eyes on the ending, and so should you.**

* * *

They sat a little awkwardly in Chloe's car, the redhead maneuvering the blue mini through the lanes of the college town. Beca was anxious to apologize again, after all, it had been her roommate who had spread lies about them because she hated Beca. But Jolene had hurt Chloe and Beca was furious about that, she was also sorry. She was about to tell Chloe that when the redhead said:

"Aubrey was really quiet tonight." Beca blinked. She hadn't really paid much attention to the tall blonde and tried to remember if she had said anything after finding out that, well, that Chloe and she were... involved? Beca wasn't even sure about the terminology that applied to her and the gorgeous redhead. And she couldn't remember 'Brey talking to either her or Chloe after "the revelation."

"You didn't tell her about... us?" She asked and again blinked because "us" was such a vague discription yet so laden with inuendo. And they hadn't even talked about what it meant for them. Talking about a bizarre conversation - or actually having it.

"No... I mean, no. It wasn't like we had seen each other since... yesterday. I would have told her... eventually. I just didn't think it would all happen... like it happened tonight. You know?" She looked over to Beca shortly then back at the street.

"I know. And listen, I'm really sorry about..."

"Stop apologizing, Beca. It is not your fault. Some people just want to get the attention, did you see the number of answers those posts got? She's just an attention-seeker, so let it go." There was an edge to Chloe's voice and Beca swallowed her hurt over it. She didn't want to put Chloe even more on edge but she couldn't just let it go. Jolene had hurt Chloe, deliberately.

"I'm going to talk to her, she's not getting away with those lies," Beca promised.

"These kind of people always get away with them. Someone will always believe juicy gossip, no matter if it's true or not," Chloe said. She sounded sad.

"Have people made up things about you before?" The DJ asked and could see Chloe stiffen. She had hit a nerve. Chloe kept quiet and didn't say anything else until she parked her car near the station. Beca unfastened her seatbelt and turned a little in her seat so she could look at her friend better.

"In high school," Chloe finally said. "I had some friends who were guys, we hung out a lot. I was often the only girl in a group of guys and so some other girls made up those stories - that I would sleep with them, in turn, that I had done it with two of them at once..." A tear trickled down Chloe's cheek and Beca instantly leaned toward her, taking the taller girl into her arms. Chloe cried silent tears, it still hurt after all these years.

"I'm so sorry, Chlo," Beca soothed. It was driving her mad to see Chloe hurt like this, like she wanted to hit and kick at people. And at the same time she wanted nothing but to hold the redhead, to tell her that things were going to get better, that she was precious and lovely and that people who said things like that would all burn in hell - soon!

"It's okay," Chloe said after a while, brushing at her tear-stained cheeks. "You have to go or you'll be late," she pointed at the clock on her dashboard. It said 10.57 pm.

"Come with? We can talk at the station... if you want to talk, that is? About... us?" Beca bit her lip, she wasn't very good at this, in fact, she was plain bad at it. She had never been in a situation like this where things had to be explained and discussed and labeled. It had been so easy with Jesse, he just wanted to be with her and they could be together because nobody thought anything of it. Boy meets Girl, the classic theme. Girl meets Girl was complicated. It was also exciting, and thrilling, and happy-making.

"Will there be kissing?" Chloe smiled, almost her radiant self again. Beca grinned.

"Most definately, if I have any say in it," and to prove her point she leaned in now and touched her lips to Chloe's. Their eyes didn't close, they looked deeply into each other's eyes as their lips lingered, their breaths mingled. It was sweet. It was breathtaking. It was perfect, once again.

* * *

When they entered the station, Luke stuck his head out of the booth.

"You're late," he declared, picked up his backpack and walked by the two young women on his way out. At the door he turned with an afterthought: "And no sex in the booth, either." Then he left.

"I think that accent is completely wasted on him," Chloe declared about the lack of charm the DJ exhibited.

"You should see his abs - that guy doesn't have to talk," she grinned sheepishly. Chloe raised an eyebrow at her. "Jesse used to get jealous of Luke, and Luke tried to egg him on... so he showed his... junk," Beca explained.

"His junk?" Chloe asked teasingly.

"Not... not like your junk, in the shower... like..." Beca blushed furiously and Chloe laughed at how flustered the brunette got just thinking about her being naked. This was good.

"Very funny, Beale. Come into the booth before the song ends," Beca pulled Chloe into the small space where the DJs of the station did their magic. And she hers. She sat down at the equipment, looking at the things Luke had played throughout his shift and put a flash drive into a slot. She quickly queued up some songs, so Chloe and she could talk without interruption for a while.

She turned toward Chloe who stood in the small space of the radio booth. The limited space didn't allow for another chair, there was hardly enough of it for two people.

"Wanna sit on my lap?" Beca smiled and lifted an eyebrow in challenge.

"I don't think that would be very helpful for our conversation," Chloe said but smiled.

"It might be helpful for the kissing-business, though," Beca reminded Chloe of words exchanged via text this morning. Chloe laughed.

"Maybe later then." Chloe moved from the entrance to the part of the desk that stood infront of the window to the station and leaned against it. They smiled at each other.

"So..." Beca said thoughtfully.

"So..." Chloe repeated.

Beca looked up at the redhead, thinking about what it was that she wanted to clearify, what she wanted Chloe to know about her feelings. She reached out and took Chloe's hand.

"I really like you, Chloe." The redhead smiled at the tentative beginning. "And I would really like to... date. Like having dinner, and well, not necessarily going to the movies, though I wouldn't mind watching a dvd every once in a while. I just... I want to spent time with you, a lot of time." She smiled shyly up at her friend who gave her one of her dazzling smiles in return.

"I would like that a lot," Chloe confirmed. "There's just one thing..." Beca looked at her questioningly trying not to panic at the serious tone Chloe's voice took on. "If we're dating, if we're seeing each other then I want it all in the open. I don't want to hide. If I feel like taking your hand when we walk over campus - or anywhere else for that matter - I will do it. If I want to kiss you, I'm gonna do it. No buts, no what ifs."

Beca nodded but was still thinking about it. She didn't know what it meant to be out, she didn't even know what it meant to be in. She had never thought about the implication of difference that would be part of her life if she was with Chloe, that people would judge her by the person she was with. She felt that she had been naive, that it all wasn't that easy. On the other hand, why should it make such a difference? She wasn't ready to accept any label other people gave her. The fact that she was dating Chloe didn't mean that she was a lesbian - it also didn't mean that she wasn't. But she needed time to figure this out and she was going to take that time. That decided, she nodded more confidently.

"Good," she said. She stood up and took Chloe's other hand as well. "I don't want to hide either." She leaned forward just a little, Chloe mirroring her move and they kissed.

It didn't last long, they were still just starting to get used to each other and to the change in their relationship. They acknowledged that the alcohol had been a deciding factor the day before in how far they'd gone. Now they were sober, and they were going slower - but were still enjoying the new-ness of everything.

"Yep, still aca-mazing," Chloe teased and Beca laughed.

"As are you," she said and their lips met again and again. Chloe slipped her arms around Beca's waiste and pulled her closer, Beca's hands tangled in Chloe's hair, their kiss deepened, their desires flared. It ignited so quickly, Beca stiffened when she felt the wave of physicality and emotion threaten to overwhelm her. Chloe felt it immidiately and losened her grip on Beca. She looked at her friend who felt herself blush.

"You okay?"

"I... ehm..."

"It's okay, Becs. I know this is new. It's new for me, too." Beca nodded, she had a hard time making eye-contact. There was something she had to tell Chloe and she wasn't sure how. She bit her lip thoughtfully and then said:

"It might be newer to me than it is for you, though." Chloe looked at her questioningly.

"Beca?" She asked, unsure what the small brunette wanted to say. The DJ finally looked up and into those sweet baby-blues that had taken her breath away probably from the moment they had first met. They were amazing eyes and they belonged to the one person Beca trusted most.

"I... have never been with... anyone... intimate, that is. As in, sex?" she stuttered, her eyes weary, her whole demeanor one of a person who felt the need to protect herself. From censure and ridicule.

"Oh." Chloe said. "Oh, I see."

"I'm sorry, I mean... I told Jesse, naturally, and he made this big deal out of it. Don't get me wrong, he was mindful and told me that he wouldn't pressure me and that was sweet but... he was a little too... aware of it. Like always asking: is this okay, should we stop... you know. I... I'm twenty years old, sometimes I just don't want to stop and I don't want to think about that it's the first time with another person, I just want to get on with it. You know what I mean?" Beca rambled but it was something that had bothered her with Jesse. They probably would have had sex if it hadn't been for Jesse's mindfulness.

"Yeah, I know. I mean, it's been a while since I had my first time. And believe me, it wasn't great... but since then... I like sex, I like to be physical and close to someone. The first time is kind of a big deal, though." Beca sighed.

"I just... I don't want you to think about this every time... we make out or... I don't want IT to be in the way of US," Beca tried to explain but didn't think she made herself very clear. She looked up at Chloe hopefully and met understanding blue eyes.

"I'm not a great thinker when I'm in a clinch," Chloe teased and Beca tried a small smile. "But honestly, there will be some thinking about it. I don't want to overwhelm you..." Beca wanted to protest but Chloe lay two fingers on her lips to silence her. "But I will also make sure not to... underwhelm you." She put her mouth to Beca's ear and whispered: "I will make sure to get your juices flowing, Mitchell, and it will be glorious." Beca closed her eyes, swallowing hard.

"I'm... I'm sure it will be," she finally confirmed. Chloe smiled at her again, cupping her cheek and carressing it with her thump.

"But that's... not on today's schedule, or tomorrow's. We'll be getting there... in time." She leaned into Beca and they kissed. They let their lips explore, their tongues reacquaint, their hands roam until Chloe pulled back. She looked up at the ceiling, listening intently before she looked at the DJ's equipment.

"Ah," she pointed at the microphone over which hung the earphones. Beca's mouth fell open.

"Oops," she sat quickly down at her work station and rambled some apologies about having been destracted. The good thing was that the microphone hadn't been on to broadcast anything they had talked about, but it was still awkward to apologize for any amount of time where there was nothing to hear and not even knowing how long it had been since the last song ended. Beca queued up some more songs and looked at Chloe with a sheepish expression.

"Sorry?" Chloe said.

"Not at all," Beca answered. She went back to Chloe and linked their hands. She felt good about this, surer, if still slightly shaky. They would have to find their rhythm in this, test their feelings for each other. It was the beginning and nothing was certain, all was fragile - but it also felt incredible. Their eyes locked and they just stared at each other for some time, wondering if this was going to be it, if this would last.

"I never would have thought this would happen when I walked into your shower that day," Chloe mused and Beca started laughing. She couldn't help it, it was the most perfect thing she had ever heard another human being say. Chloe blushed lightly but smirked. "I guess I should have known... after all..."

"Oh, don't say it. Please don't," Beca begged, still laughing.

"You do have a nice bod," Chloe sing-sang softly, winking at the smaller woman.

"Now you said it," Beca rolled her eyes. Chloe laughed.

"You do," Chloe raked her eyes over the brunette's body, the smirk still in place. Hilarious became incredibly sexy, and Beca blushed. Chloe pulled her closer and touched her forehead to Beca's.

"You're lovely when you blush, Becs." The DJ closed her eyes, taking the time to just feel and smell the other woman. She once again felt light-headed from the whirlwind of things Chloe could make her feel in a short amount of time. Why had no one else ever made her feel this way?

"You are always lovely," the brunette whispered and it sounded corny to her ears but it was the truth. She could hear Chloe smile, then she felt her nose rubbing lightly against her own. Beca smiled.

"I feel cheesy," Beca confessed.

"I won't tell anyone," Chloe promised. "Your street cred's safe with me."

"Yeah, right. Like I won't smile like an idiot the first time I'll introduce you as my girlfriend or all the times before that when you take my hand and make people understand that we are an item."

"You seem to have given this some thought," Chloe wondered aloud. Beca opened her eyes and looked into those incredibly blue eyes as she made another confession:

"I think I have thought about you... about the possibility of an us for some time now - possibly even before I ended things with Jesse."

Chloe just looked at Beca, she wanted to say something, make a confession of her own but then both heard how the current song ended and there was once again silence on the air wave.

"Damn," Beca bellowed, sitting herself back down at the desk and continuing with the job she was here to do. "Sorry for the interruption," she finally said as she hung the earphones back over the microphone.

"Please, I should be the one apologizing. I'm keeping you from your job." And then, reluctantly she said: "I should probably go." Her smile was whistful and Beca knew better than to protest. There would be more time for them to talk and kiss and feel but right now was really not that time. And it was probably better, too. There were so many emotions laying bare and Beca felt that she needed some time to get used to them, to let it all sink in.

Beca got out of her seat and came over. She put her arms around Chloe and hugged her tight.

"Will I see you tomorrow?" she asked tentatively.

"If I'm lucky," Chloe quipped and leaned in for a short kiss and they slowly disentangled themselves from the other. Chloe smiled as she opened the door to the booth.

"Keep thinking about me," she said. Beca just grinned as she watched Chloe leave the station.

"As if I could stop," she whispered to the emptiness that remained as she sat back at her work station.


	7. Chapter 7

Beca and Chloe had left the party early but Aubrey didn't stay long after they left. She had something to do, something she didn't want the others to know about and, fortunately, everybody was quite busy chatting and dancing and having a good time so that 'Brey could slip out without having to explain. She took a cab over to campus - Amy's apartment was off-campus but not too far away - and exited it infront of Baker Hall. She whipped her phone out and looked up a text that Chloe had sent her at the beginning of the semester - Chloe was very thoughtful and made sure Aubrey had all the contact information for one Beca Mitchell because the Bellas captain wouldn't think of providing it herself. 'Just in case,' Chloe had written and this was such a case, at least that's how Aubrey saw it.

It was rather late but Aubrey had a talent to blend in if she wished and nobody stopped her on the way up to the third floor where Beca's small dwelling was located. She hesitated only briefly before knocking on the door. There were no sounds but a sliver of light that could be seen through the small gap under the door told her that somebody was inside. The door opened unexpectedly and a mousy-looking girl stood infront of Aubrey. She looked at the tall blonde for a second before her eyes squinted:

"Beca's not here," she said and wanted to close the door again but Aubrey was a quick thinker and even quicker in action. She put her foot between door and frame and said:

"I know. I wanted to talk to you. You're Jolene, right?" 'Brey was smiling easily at the other girl.

"Yeah, and you're Beca's friend, aren't you?"

"Well, let's say we know each other," Aubrey offered. Jolene opened the door wider and let 'Brey come in. She didn't know why this beautiful girl had sought her out but she was curious by nature. The girl - woman - didn't seem to like Beca much - which Jolene could understand all too well.

"Thank you," 'Brey said politely and closed the door behind her while Jolene sat down on her bed expectantly. As soon as Aubrey had closed the door, her eyes hardened, her smile vanished and when she turned to Jolene the other woman realized that she had made a mistake.

"I...," she started but 'Brey cut her off.

"I'm not a great fan of Beca Mitchell, you know. She's too artsy, too alternative and a little too wise-crack for my taste. But she's a Bella and that makes us sisters. And when someone tells lies about my sister, I take it personally," Aubrey informed Jolene. The younger woman wanted to defend herself and stood up but was again cut off by 'Brey's domineering voice. She had trained her vocal chords since she was in kindergarden and Jolene was really no match for her - not vocally, not in any other category. She certainly couldn't match Aubrey's anger as the blonde continued:

"On behalf of Beca, I'm going to tell you: back off, stop telling lies. It's not worth it, it doesn't make you any more popular and people who know Beca won't believe that stuff anyways." 'Brey took a deep breath, there was bile rising in her throat but she couldn't have that right now. Jolene took this as the moment to say:

"I wasn't telling lies," it was a weak defence and both knew better than to believe it.

"You were, but the really bad part is that your weren't only telling these lies about Beca. You also told shit about Chloe, and nobody tells lies about my best friend! Do you even know her?" Aubrey's voice had risen quite a bit and she was now very short of yelling at Jolene. The younger woman took a step back. "Chloe Beale is one of the best people you could ever meet. I bet she even treated you cordially whenever she came over, didn't she?" Aubrey seemed to expect an answer at this and Jolene nodded slowly. She had the decency to look ashamed of herself.

"That's Chloe. She likes people and she tends not to judge them. She should know better by now but she's trusting, and she's sweet. And she would never confront you about this. But I do, because you bitch hurt my best friend. And NOBODY hurts my best friend!" The silence that followed these words was deafening. Jolene didn't know what the tall blonde with the slightly manic expression would do to her now but she could quite easily imagine her pulling out an axe and chopping her into little pieces. She seemed that crazy, and that determined.

'Brey let her words sink in, she knew that she could be quite frightening when she put her mind to it, she also knew that people's fear feeded off itself more than anything she could now say, she was, after all, a psychology major. She waited for an uncomfortable minute before she said, calmer:

"Alright, what you're going to do is this: log into your account, tell everyone that you've been lying about Beca and Chloe. Then you're going to apologize, first on your stupid social network but eventually in person because what you did was really mean. And then you're going to hope that Beca will forgive you because if you think I am mad you haven't seen Beca when you hurt someone she cares about. And she cares about Chloe. They're close, you at least got that right," 'Brey acknowledged and looked expectantly at Jolene. The young woman didn't know what else the blonde wanted.

"I told you what to do, didn't I?" 'Brey snapped and Jolene took another step back.

"Now?" She asked.

"Yes, now. Did you think I was just gonna leave you to think better about this? Get on with it, I have a party to get back to," Aubrey rolled her beautiful eyes at Jolene and Beca's roommate sat down at her computer. She was already logged into her account and she started typing. 'Brey looked over her shoulder.

"Don't forget the apology, and make it sincere," she adviced.

Jolene sighed when she finally finished typing and leaned back in her chair.

"Satisfied?" She pouted.

"Are you?" 'Brey gave back. Jolene looked up at her angrily.

"Listen," Aubrey turned the chair towards her and knelt down so her eyes were on a level with the other woman's. "Doing this is not healthy. Lying about people just because you don't like them doesn't make you popular and it doesn't solve your problems. If Beca annoys you, tell her about it, scream at her, nag her. Don't go behind her back and tell lies about her. Do you know what some people do to people when they think they are different, when they are queer? People get killed for that shit, women get raped! You don't want to be responsible for something like that, surely?" Jolene hung her head and shook it. She hadn't thought about it like that. "You invaded Beca and Chloe's right of privacy. That was mean. You don't want to be a mean person, do you?" 'Brey's voice was soft now, understanding. She didn't want to humiliate the other girl, she wanted her to see she had been wrong and make sure she didn't do it again. Jolene shook her head again.

"I didn't think so," 'Brey said. "There are some really good therapeutic programs on campus, there are also groups like the Bellas, clubs you can join to find friends. I'm sure there are people out there who would like for you to be their friend. I know it's not always easy but you have to make the first step," she wasn't sure if this would help but she wanted to at least try to leave Jolene on an upbeat note. The other woman didn't acknowledge 'Brey's words and the blonde got up. She sighed but didn't say anything more as she opened the door and left.

* * *

It was after 2 a.m. when Beca stepped into the chill January night and locked the radio station. She felt good even though she was exhausted from last night's party and today's emotional roller coaster. Thoughts of Choe had indeed invaded her mind every minute since the redhead left and they were good thoughts. Beca grinned but then she heard a sound from too close for comfort and when she turned she found herself face to face with Aubrey.

"Hey," she said and Beca took a deep unnerved breath.

"You scared me," she admitted.

"What? Badass Beca is scared of something? I don't believe that," but she smiled as she said it and Beca just shook her head. "Though I do think you should consider arming yourself with some pepper spray when you're out this late," she advised.

"Don't tell me you're worried about me," Beca gave back. She was a little puzzled about Aubrey meeting her here because it obviously wasn't a coincidence.

"I'm more worried about Chloe being worried about you," Aubrey explained. "She likes you a lot." 'Brey pointed at the way that led to Baker Hall, indicating that she would walk Beca home. They set out in silence, after a while Aubrey linked their arms and Beca looked at her questioningly.

"Did you want to talk about Chloe?" she asked when 'Brey didn't offer an explanation as to why she wanted to talk to Beca.

"Beca, you're an intelligent young woman, you know what my feelings toward Chloe are - and people who hurt her," there was a threat there and it wasn't very subtle either.

"That you will torture them, kill them and make their bodies disappear? Yeah, I know," there wasn't the slightest bit of humor in Beca's words but 'Brey still gave a little laugh.

"I'm glad we understand each other," she said. "There's another thing, though." Beca waited for her fellow-Bella to continue. "I talked to your roommate tonight," 'Brey offered and Beca stopped walking, pulling the taller girl to a stop also.

"You talked to Jolene?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah, I figured better me than you. I saw the way you looked when you figured out it had to be her who told those lies... so..."

"What did she say? Did she do it?"

"Of course, she did, Beca. She hates your guts. I don't know what you did to that girl but you should really consider moving out."

"ME? Why doesn't she move?" Beca bellowed, she was angry at 'Brey for thinking that she was the one who did something wrong. She hadn't, she hadn't done anything.

"She's new here, Beca. She doesn't know where to go, she doesn't have any friends. You do." Aubrey was a cool, logical thinker and she was right. But Beca was relauctant to acknowledge that fact, she didn't want to be rational about this. Jolene had screwed up, she should be the one to move. Her mind berated her for being stubborn and Beca gave a huff that might have been an agreement, Aubrey wasn't sure.

"I don't have to tell you that Jolene is unhappy, right?" Beca shook her head, that much was obvious. "She's lonely. I don't expect you to be friends but do yourself and her a favor and move in with Amy... or Chloe... or some other Bella if you want." 'Brey advised.

"I will think about it," Beca consented.

"Good, and don't give the girl too hard a time. She'll apologize to you and Chloe, give her a chance to and don't be ungratious. I know you're angry because of Chloe. I have known Chlo for most of my life and believe me, I would have liked to kill her for hurting my best friend but... well, that's not really an option, so..."

"So you put the fear of God in her, instead?" Beca asked and 'Brey smiled.

"That was so poetically put, Beca," she confirmed and they both smiled.

"Thanks, Aubrey, for... well, for being Chloe's best friend. She told me about... high school. You did know her back then, didn't you?" Aubrey nodded thoughtfully.

"Yes, I did. She told you about the rumors about her and some of the guys she hung out with?"

"Yeah. I can't believe someone would do that to her? I mean... she's..." Beca was lost for words for all the things Chloe Beale was.

"She didn't tell you that it was me spreading those rumors?" 'Brey's voice was but a whisper for once and Beca wasn't sure she heard her right.

"Aca-scuse me?!" It shot out of her.

"It was me," 'Brey confessed. "Well, me and some friends but I was the initiator, the queen bee." Beca stared up at Aubrey.

"Why?" was all she could think of to say.

"We had known each other since kindergarden. We were friends then but things changed once we went to high school. I wanted to be one of the popular girls, I became a cheerleader and joined a couple of 'prestigious' clubs. Chloe wasn't invited, she... was actually more of a tomboy back then. She liked to wear hoodies and chucks, and hang out with guys. They liked her, of course, because... well, Chloe was always beautiful. And since I was the vice-president of the celibacy club..."

"Wow," Beca tried to take this all in. Especially the information about Chloe being a tomboy, someone who dressed for comfort. It was hard to imagine but it was also fascinating, like everything about Chloe.

"Yeah, I know. I don't even know how I got so lucky that she forgave me. She's... a much better person than anybody I know."

"That she is. I wouldn't have forgiven you," Beca said.

"I'm not sure I have forgiven myself for it, Beca. I am not the perfect friend, I tend to underestimate Chloe, to patronize her, not listen to her. But she... finds it in her to forgive me. I think it helps that she is usually right about everything - including you," 'Brey smiled down at Beca.

"About me?"

"Yeah, she wanted you with the Bellas the moment she saw you... and you have been good for the Bellas - if you tell the others I said that I will deny it, by the way," Aubrey dead-panned and Beca nodded grinning. "But you have been good for the Bellas - they are not the group I joined, they are much better now."

"We are," Beca agreed with conviction which earned her an eyeroll from the older woman. Beca linked their arms and they continued their way to Baker Hall.

"I was thinking, maybe you should leave Jolene for tonight and come over to Amy's with me. I'm leaving tomorrow and Chloe's coming over early - we can all have breakfast together. That is if Amy is up to it after the party," 'Brey smiled. Beca thought about it, then nodded.

"Yeah, that's probably best," she agreed.

"You just can't wait to see Chloe again, right?" They laughed, it was probably the first time they did that together. It felt strange to both.

"Could be," Beca didn't give anything away, though her smile was less coy than her words.

"She's got your number, Mitchell. Make sure you treat her well," Aubrey warned.

"What, no inappropriate hint at the toner I have for your best friend?" Beca teased.

"Don't even go there!" Aubrey warned and the brunette laughed. "I don't want to hear any more about your dick!" Aubrey joined Beca in the laughter. After a couple more minutes while they just walked together, Aubrey took out her phone and called a cab. It took them to Amy's in relative silence.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: This is it, everybody, the epilogue. But don't worry, I already have another Bechloe-fic breathing down my neck and I hope you will like it as much as this one. Thanks again for all the encouragement and kind words - I feed off them. (Should I give a fluff-warning, or have y'all figured me out by now?)**

* * *

Two Months Later

If there was one thing Beca hated about all the a cappella-business it was "synchronized lady dancing." Even with the sick moves Cynthia Rose and Stacie came up with it was still her least favorite part of the whole show. It wasn't that she didn't like to dance, but remembering a choreography and smiling while doing so was kinda sick to Beca. Of course, if it was up to her the Bellas would be falling all over each other on stage.

So, she was grateful that Cynthia Rose was there, that Stacie helped and that everybody was so much happier without Aubrey's cardio - Cynthia Rose had come up with some fun stuff they could do that helped keeping everybody in shape for their performances. But the worst part about the choreography was that Chloe wasn't there anymore to help her with it. During the first year, Chloe had been mostly in charge of training the moves and Beca had often found herself in a position where Chloe would give very hands-on advice. And although Beca would never - not even now that she was dating Chloe - admit it, she had sometimes slacked just a little, so that Chloe would help her with the steps, the arms movements, the whole presentation (since with that first choreography it wasn't really about dancing but more about looking the part and move in a coordinated, yet mature sexy fashion - or something).

She was thinking about this while trying to follow some of Cynthia Rose's more advanced footwork and failing. Mostly because she couldn't stop thinking about her girlfriend who had been away for a week to a trainee's retreat. She was due back sometime today or early tomorrow and Beca's stomach was in knots because of a whole week of Chloe withdrawel. Sure, they had texted, some of these had even been a little risqué - Chloe was sure keeping her promise of getting Beca's juices flowing - but they were nothing to actually being able to kiss and touch the redhead - naturally.

So, Beca sulked, screwed up her moves and hoped that their session would end rather sooner than later and...

"Hey, look who's here! Our favorite honorary Bella..." Amy called at this moment, and sure enough, Chloe came walking into the room while Amy became very aware of her words and in retrospect mumbled, "I mean, one of our favorite honorary Bellas." Beca was too captivated by her girlfriend walking in to pay her any heed, though. Damn, Chloe was even more beautiful than she remembered, how was that even possible? Her eyes sparkled and her smile was so wide, it was a miracle it didn't split her face in two.

"What...," Beca started to stutter. "What are you doing here?" She asked and made her way over, ignoring everyone and everything and nearly falling over a chair she didn't see. She took Chloe into her arms, wasting no time but kissed her infront of everyone. It was a passionate kiss and there were some catcalls, some protests and Amy's embarrassed mumblings to be heard but neither Beca or Chloe cared.

"I guess that means practice is over," Cynthia Rose groused and everybody was about to pack up their things and leave, or stay and celebrate Chloe's return if they were invited to any kind of semblance of a party - you never knew with the Bellas - but Chloe broke free off Beca's lips and shook her head.

"No, please, just... continue. I will sit here and watch until you're finished," she pointed at the chair that had nearly been Beca's downfall earlier. She got a bewildered look from her girlfriend.

"Seriously?" Beca asked.

"Of course," and into Beca's ear she whispered: "I love to see you move it." Beca blushed, and her friends who watched had a hard time conceiling their amusement over how whipped their captain was.

"I can see your toner," came a low reprimand of Beca's co-captain.

"That's her dick," Chloe beat Beca to the punchline. It had become a thing with the Bellas, the accusation of someone's toner and the flip answer that Beca had used so casually toward Aubrey after the first Bellas practice. The Bellas laughed and Beca rejoined the group of dancers, or rather, stumblers. It was their first practice for the advanced Finals-choreography and they really had their work cut out for them with this one. Chloe watched for a while, then got up and joined her friends, perfecting most of the moves by the third time she did them. Beca rolled her eyes, sometimes it was hard having a perfect girlfriend. But she couldn't keep the proud smile off her face, nor the lingering glances at Chloe's behind in check.

"Eyes to the front, soldier," Cynthia Rose whispered to her as she made her round to watch how the Bellas progressed through the dance routine. Beca blushed furiously and her friend snickered.

"Alright, everyone, let's call it a day so that our captain can get her lady jam on," everybody laughed at this - everybody but Beca who just blushed an even darker shade. She hadn't gotten used to the teasing yet, maybe she never would. Being a private person, she tried to keep most her love life private as well, only, the Bellas weren't having any of this. From the beginning everybody had known that Stacie was very much into sex, that Cynthia Rose was a lesbian, that Beca had a toner for Jesse - these things were obvious in the tight-knit group. There was no censure here but everybody had to suffer the teasing, and Beca was a favorite, mostly because she was so private but also because she was obviously happy - and plenty whipped.

Everybody packed their things, ready to head out when Amy said:

"I think your return calls for a welcome-back celebration. Why don't we all meet up at mine and Beca's and have some jiggle juice?" Beca locked panicked eyes with Chloe, this certainly wasn't her plan for tonight - not when she was desperate for some alone-time with Chloe.

"Not tonight, Amy. I'm pretty beat and it's only Thursday. Let's do it on the weekend, okay? I bring the jiggle juice," Chloe smiled beguilingly at the Tasmanian and Amy reluctantly agreed that Saturday would be the better choice for any kind of celebration.

"Alright but don't wear Beca out too much - she's got to give us some very sick mixes after this last week. Just between you and I: she was insufferable without you," Amy stage-whispered that last part. There were some agreeing mumbles from her fellow Bellas.

"Aca-scuse me!" Beca groused but Amy smiled at her.

"Come on, Beca, you know it's true. I had to physically drag you out of the house and to each practice this last week, or you would have just sat at home and sulked in your Chloe-lessness." Chloe looked at her girlfriend who blushed - again.

"Really?" the redhead asked and cupped Beca's cheek. She touched her forehead to the smaller woman's.

"I missed you, too, you know." Beca nodded her head.

"I think that's our cue. I won't wait up for you, Beca," and with those words Amy and the other stragglers left Beca and Chloe.

"Didn't you have any fun? The texts sounded like it was fun?" Beca asked.

"It was okay but... I think I actually rolled my eyes at some of the exercises they had us do. I never roll my eyes - that's your bad influence," Chloe teased and Beca couldn't help grinning at this.

"You're welcome," she said and they giggled.

"I missed you so much," Beca confessed a moment later and their mood became sober again.

"And I you," Chloe answered and then captured Beca's lips. It was slow-building but intensifying beyond what Beca was usually comfortable with in a public space like this. But her hands ran up Choe's sides and over her back, pulling her girl desperately to her. Chloe moaned into her mouth and Beca felt a now familiar tug low in her belly.

"I need you," she panted as they finally came up for air, her voice so thick with emotion and want that Chloe knew immediately what she was saying. There was no hesitancy, Beca's eyes clearly conveyed her desire and Chloe wasn't going to deny her.

"Let's go then," and Chloe entwined their fingers, pulling Beca with her. They exited the building, Beca locking up behind them.

The air was still chill but already warming for spring. Beca took a few deep breaths, trying to calm her racing heart, the blood that was rushing through her veins. But all she breathed was Chloe, who had turned to her, invading her personal space as per usual, casually sliding her arms around Beca's waiste and pullng her close. She once again touched her forehead to Beca's. Both women smiled.

"One more thing," Chloe said and Beca raised a questioning eyebrow. "I love you," Chloe said slowly, enunciating every word in turn and knocking the wind out of Beca with just three little words. Beca actually gasp and swallowed at the dryness of her throat.

"It's okay..."  
"I love you," Beca said, not quite as enunciated but still recognizable as a declaration. Choe smiled, then leaned in for another kiss, warming, emotional, and sweet as only Chloe's kisses could be. As they parted, the redhead started walking toward her car, humming under her breath. Beca recognized the melody of _Just the Way You Are_ and finally joined in with_ Just a Dream_ - their love jam.

The end.


End file.
